Franken poll: people like him

Minnesota’s Senate race will not be rocked by poll numbers released Friday showing incumbent DFLer Amy Klobuchar with a 26 point lead (55-29) over GOP challenger Kurt Bills.

No surprise there.

But the more interesting Public Policy Polling numbers show fellow Minnesota Democrat Al Franken breaking into the 50 percent range of voter approval. He's been there before - in a 2010 Rasmussen poll - but Public Policy Polling still found the result "stronger than might have been expected.”

Overall, 36 percent disapproved.Not surprisingly, 85 percent of Democrats are pretty happy with Franken. But he also polls well with 48 percent of independents.

Public Policy Polling, avowedly bored with the 2012 Senate race, decided to probe the prospects in 2014, where it matched Franken against three potential GOP challengers. The results: Franken leads 51-41 in a rematch with former Sen. Norm Coleman; He has a 52-41 advantage over former Gov. Tim Pawlenty; and he goes 57-35 over U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (the national media's dream match).

“It’s impossible to say what the political climate will look like in 2014, but at least for now Franken finds himself in a strong position,” the pollsters conclude.

A Duluth native who just barely lost Virginia's GOP gubernatorial primary said that politicians have not gone far enough in condemning the left for violence during a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville. "I think that the left is going to try to use this as an excuse to crack down on conservative free speech," said Corey Stewart. "I think they're going to try to use this as an excuse to remove more historical monuments."